Textual History: Revision
In addition to this fragmentary revise, the library of the Delaware Museum of
Art has the following proof materials for Signature L of DGR's
Ballads and Sonnets
volume: a complete copy of the first author's proof and a duplicate (both dated 14 Apr 81 and
numbered 1); a series of revise proofs (see below) printed and revised
between 20 April and the end of May that lead up to the final June proofs; a
late revise proof ( dated 2
June and numbered 5); and a complete duplicate of the
final proof ( both dated 7 June 1881) plus two incomplete duplicates, duplicate 1 and duplicate 2. The British Library
proofs have another copy (partial) of revise proofs for this
signature (undated, unnumbered, and lacking pages 145-146, 159-160). These
proofs date from the same period of revision exemplified by the large corpus
of revises that came in late April and throughout May.
The revises that come in late April and throughout May are the following: a
partial revise with DGR's
corrections that must have followed shortly upon the second revise of 19
April, and a duplicate, also
with DGR's corrections (undated and unnumbered); another relatively early
partial revise with one
correction (undated and unnumbered). Then come a series of revises dated 25
and 26 April: a complete revise, copy
1 (dated 25 April 1881 and numbered 1); a complete revise, copy 2 (undated
and unnumbered); a complete
revise (dated 26 April 1881 and numbered 2); another complete revise, duplicate (dated
26 April 1881 and numbered 2); a late duplicate complete revise (dated 26 April
1881 and numbered 2); a complete
revise, uncut sheets (undated and unnumbered, but a shop copy
that was pulled early in this proofing sequence); and miscellaneous page proofs
(incomplete, undated and unnumbered). Finally, there are three revises, one
complete, that can be dated 31 May 1881: the complete revise (undated,
numbered 1) and the incomplete copy
1 and the incomplete copy
2 (both dated 31 May 1881 and both unnumbered).
The principal revisions would have been made around mid-May, as we can tell
from DGR's correspondence with his publisher. A letter to Ellis of 13 May
says that all of the revises received to that date—which would
have been everything through signature Q℄had been sent back. But
on 15 May he writes again to Ellis asking that the final printing of
signatures K and L be held up for further revisions, which DGR completed on
17-18 May, as letters to Ellis of those dates show.